Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group

Feeding your infant and ensuring they are getting enough nutrition is one of the most important aspects of parenting during that first year. This community is dedicated to those who are nurturing a baby, whether breastfed or formula-fed.

BITING, OUCH!!!!

I've been breastfeeding my 7.5 month old son exclusively since he was born. At 5 months old he cut his first 2 bottom teeth. I've been bit quite a few times since then, sometimes it's very painful and sometimes its just a little scrape. I always stick my finger in his mouth and break the latch right away and stop nursing for a moment. It seems like he gets the idea, he doesn't do it very often.
But about last week he bit me and made a deep cut on my nipple. OW, OW, OW!!!!! I breastfed him anyways but last night I noticed the cut had puss coming out of it.. i squeezed it out and today it looks healed but its still really sore.
So now I don'd know what to do. I wanted to continue breastfeeding until he was a year old, but this is extremely painful and I don't want it to happen again! 3 days ago he cut his first top tooth so it's probably only going to get worse. I've been trying to start him on formula for a long time (not to wean him, just so he'll take it in case I need to be away since I have a hard time pumping) but he absolutely refuses it. So even if i want to wean him (and i think i have to), I can't because he won't drink formula... and i mean he really will absolutely NOT drink it from a bottle, sippy cup, regular cup.. no way.

So.. i have 2 questions.

How can I get him to stop biting??

How can i get him to start drinking formula??

My nipples hurt like crazy and I haven't had a break in almost 8 months, and it's my birthday this Friday so i'd really like to have a night out with my friends!

Yeouch! Those teeth can hurt! My daughter has developed a habit of biting my leg when she wants to be picked up and I can only imagine how that would feel on a more sensitive area! :o(

It might be hard for him to start on formula, but here are a couple of suggestions. If you can, get him to suckle on your finger (palm faced upwards) while you insert the nipple of the bottle. To prevent him from biting down, drag a finger down his lips- this should trigger his instinct to open his mouth. Do this a few times and tease him a little with it. Then, insert the nipple. Children tend to be different, so if dragging a finger down to the side of his mouth or cheek might also work. As for the formula, play around with the temperature of it. Some children prefer their bottles to be a glowing warm (but not hot), while others like it cooler or lukewarm.

As for biting, try giving him whatever pain medication you prefer 30 minutes before a feed, that way it has the chance to take effect.

If you think he is doing it to get a reaction out of you, ignore his bad behavior. Set him down and walk away. Come back and try again in a few minutes.

One of my best friends started ff her son when he was 8 months. She went through one bad day of where he didn't eat for 15 hours, but he took to the bottle just fine after that. She boycotted breastfeeding altogether until he accepted it. Good luck to you! I hope this helps a little.

Your baby is too smart to want to start formula. Taste it; it taste bad. He wants the real deal! MOST bf babies will refuse to take formula after a couple of months.

Yes, he can be cured of his biting. The minute he bites, tell him no (do not make too much of a spectacle, or he may learn to bite to get attention) and put him down for a minute or two. Ignore him. Then, try again. Repeat as necessary. Be firm; he will get the message. I would also not hesitate to give him baby tylenol or ibuprophen (motrin, advil), which works the best on pain. An ounce of prevention is worht a pound of cure!

You can go out and party, and you can drink alcohol. Esp. if it is an occasional thing. Just try to bf before you go out, and to wait a bit after your last drink, if possible, The amounts of ethanol that get into your milk are minimal, unless you get so damned wasted that you cannot walk, in which case, you should not be caring for your baby in the first place.

You should continue to bf from the breast where you have the puss coming out, or else you can get other complications, like clogged duts or mastitiis. The puss will not kill him; do not worry. Same goes for if you are bleeding. No adverse effects for baby.

Good luck! I hope this helps you! You have been doing absolutely great so far. ;)

One more thing. When does he bite? At the beginning? It could be the sign that he is very hungry, your let-down imay be a little slow, and he may be impatient. Try to bf him earlier, before he gets really starved.

If he bites more towards the end, when he is about to comme off the breast anyway, then part of it may just be a bad habit. Prevent: take him off when you see him fooling around, looking around, not actively sucking.

Ish I am so not looking forward to that!!
If you have a pump you can add breast milk to formula (not as the water though) to change the taste then slowly wean it until it's all formula or just use that pump to give him bottles of breast milk

I feel your pain! My son is 9 1/2 months old and I was bit for the first time last week...and several times in the course of a 12 hour period. The thought of quitting crossed my mind because I was SO sore by the end of our ordeal, but it's definitely not necessary.

Here's what I did. My son was/is teething really bad right now. It started out that when he'd begin to suck and I wouldn't have a letdown quickly, he'd bite. I said &quot;no,&quot; put him down and ignored him. After a minute or two, picked him back up and tried again. He'd immediately bite. I replayed this scenario a few times. Realizing that he was just going to continue and he wasn't getting the picture, I decided not to feed him when he bit. We gave him his solids instead and he went to bed. He woke up that night to feed and ended up biting me again, so I closed up shop and didn't feed him. Same thing again at 5:30 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., he nursed without biting and hasn't done it since. I think not feeding him his milk when he bit did the trick.

Every time he nurses now I begin by telling him to &quot;be nice&quot; and give him the &quot;mommy means business&quot; look :)

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